The HP Pavilion dv6-3123cl isn't a standout as far as performance or extra features. However, with the big hard drive capacity, good battery life, pleasant aluminum-like design and lower price point, it should be adequate enough to meet the needs of the average consumer looking for a desktop replacement.

The HP Pavilion dv6-3123cl ($599.99 list at Costco) is a no-frills, everyday laptop with all the standard features you would expect from a moderately priced, general-use laptop. This laptop, available at Costco, comes with an ample 15.6-inch screen, making it worthy of being a desktop replacement. It might not be the fastest or most powerful laptop out there, but it has a healthy 500GB hard drive (5,400rpm), over 4 hours of battery life, and all the ports you'd want for connectivity. This system should meet most of the average user's needs, especially given its price.

Design
The dv6-3123cl has a smooth aluminum-like finish, but is made of plastic. The cool metallic texture will help reduce the chance of smudges, fingerprints, and other possible scratches or markings. This design is a stark contrast to some other desktop replacement laptops like the Lenovo IdeaPad Z560 ($699 direct, 3 stars), which comes in a plain, piano-black plastic finish, conducive to fingerprints and smudges; or the Samsung R540-11 ($999 list, 4 stars), which comes in a hard plastic brown chassis made to resemble wood. Aside from the sleek silver finish (and the pretty little HP logo that lights up when the system is in use), nothing really special stands out visually for this laptop.

The HP Pavilion dv6-3123cl comes with a 15.6-inch screen, a decent size for everyday tasks, but not quite as large as the 17-inch screen found on the HP Pavilion dv7-4083cl ($999.99 list, 4 stars). The full-size keyboard is entirely black, with chiclet-style keys that are almost flush with the surface of the keyboard. There are also quick-keys dedicated to the Web and other functions located on the left-most column of the keyboard. But given its size, I would have expected a numerical keypad on the right side of the keyboard, a feature found in the 15.6-inch Samsung R540-11. The click touchpad is pretty big in size and integrated the mouse buttons. It's a multi-gesture touchpad, like the one found in the Acer Aspire TimelineX AS5820T-5951 ($723 street, 4 stars).

At 5.3 pounds, it's on a par with other laptops in its class, except for the current Editors' Choice for desktop replacement laptops, the HP dv7-4083cl, which tips the scales at a whopping 7 pounds. It's light enough to carry around without putting a strain on your shoulder or back.

Features
Nothing groundbreaking stands out as far as features go for this system. It has most of the standard fare you'd expect from a desktop replacement laptop. There's an "HP Advisor Dock" that appears at the top of the screen that gives you quick links to various media outlets. You can get quick access to TV, photo, music, video, etc. You can also drag and drop whatever programs you want to have a quick link to onto this taskbar. Some people may find this a bit annoying, but it's easy to hide the bar if it becomes an eyesore.

The dv6-3123cl comes with the usual ports. On the left side of the system you'll find an HDMI port, VGA, Ethernet, USB 2.0, eSATA/USB combo port, microphone and headphone jack, and 5-in-1 flash memory card reader. On the right hand side, there are two additional USB 2.0 ports, as well as a DVD burner. If you're looking for a Blu-ray drive, you'll have to invest the dough in another desktop replacement laptop like the Gateway NV59C09u ($800 list, 3.5 stars) or Samsung R540-11.

The nice thing about buying a system from Costco is that they supply you with a two-year warranty, a year longer than the standard warranty on a laptop. The warranty also comes with Costo's Concierge Services, a free service to customers who purchase electronics at their stores. They have technicians on call to help you with any setup or troubleshooting problems that may arise from using your system.

Performance
Performance-wise, the Pavilion dv6-3123cl comes in on the lower end of the totem pole for desktop replacements. This isn't much of a surprise, considering its low-end dual-core 2.1GHz AMD Athlon II P320 processor and ATI Mobility Radeon HD4250 GPU, which happens to be an integrated graphics chipset. It had the lowest score in PCMark Vantage at 3,524, well below the HP dv7-4083cl (5,677), which has the more powerful 2.4GHz Intel Core i5-450M CPU. It also had one of the lowest scores for 3DMark06, which stresses the graphics chipset (1,851 at default resolution, 1,659 at native). In comparison, the HP Pavilion dv7-4083cl, which uses the ATI Mobility Radeon 5470 GPU, scored 4,675 at default resolution and 3,351 at native. The Pavilion dv6-3123cl was the slowest among the laptops mentioned here on Photoshop CS5, coming in at a slow-as-molasses 9 minutes 38 seconds.

The dv6-3123cl's battery life on its 6-cell (55WH) Lithium Ion battery came in at a pretty respectable 4 hours 38 minutes on MobileMark 2007. Only two other comparable systems had a significantly higher battery life: the Acer Aspire TimelineX AS5820T-5951 (7:37) and HP Pavilion dv7-4153cl ($799.99 list, 3 stars), which scored 7:27.

The HP Pavilion dv6-3123cl is not going to wow you with any over-the-top graphics, or knock you off your feet with show stopping speeds. If you're looking for added features and that extra oomph in performance and speed, the Editors' Choice HP Pavilion dv7-4083cl is still your best bet. It comes with better graphics, better processor, a Blu-ray drive, as well as a bigger 17-inch screen to take in all the pretty pictures. But if you're looking for an inexpensive desktop replacement with plenty of storage space and decent battery life, and one that meets your basic everyday needs, this might be right up your alley.

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you instruct us otherwise. Your subscription will automatically renew at the end of the term unless you authorize
cancellation. Each year, you'll receive a notice and you authorize that your credit/debit card will be charged the
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